Grassroots groups fire up in wake of reserve upsets

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In the wake of forensic audits, blockades and band office sit-ins, a group has been formed to deal with concerns raised by band members from First Nations across the province.

CAIN - The Coalition Against Injustice to Natives - is based on southern Alberta's Stoney Reserve.

Stoney received national attention over the past several months after a provincial court judge ordered the province to investigate allegations of band administration mismanagement and financial wrong-doing on the reserve. The judge's order which on Sept. 26 was unsuccessfully appealed by the province at the Court of Queen's Bench in Calgary, has led to several meetings between Stoney members and Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development representatives. There is currently a forensic audit at Stoney, and the financial management is being carried out by an Indian Affairs appointed accounting firm.

Since the Stoney situation, band members at other First Nations in Alberta have staged sit-ins and demonstrations to create awareness at their feelings of discontent.

All the concerns and feelings of ill will regarding band management led to the creation of the new coalition, said CAIN organizer and director Greg Twoyoungmen.

"It's to help people in need," said Twoyoungmen. "It's to air their grievances. It is a place to show their complaints because they are being ignored by their leaders."

The coalition was created back in July, Twoyoungmen said, and already there are more than 300 people involved.

"We are getting support from across Canada, all the way from B.C. down south and east to Manitoba," he said.

The coalition is based on the concept that 'grassroots' people need to have somewhere to turn when they have problems with band administrations.

He said many of the people calling the coalition for help can't get the answers they need from their own leaders or Indian Affairs representatives.

Twoyoungmen said there is too much distance between the people in power and the people they are supposed to represent.

"They all live like kings and other people live in vehicles," is how he explained the financial problems the coalition is looking into.

Eventually, using political and media contacts, Twoyoungmen said CAIN wants to see Indian Affairs let bands take care of themselves.

"Native government should replace Indian Affairs," he said.

The government department hasn't been helping the 'grassroots' level people in the past and there is no need for them in the future, he said.

"Indian Affairs ignores us and brushes us off. They are useless to us. What are they here for?" he asked.

Twoyoungmen said he has tried to get answers from Indian Affairs on a regional level and even federally, but his letters have been ignored.

"I've [written] over and over and over to the [Indian Affairs] minister and now I'm writing to the House of Commons.

If things are to change, the system needs a shakeup, he said.

"We want to change the status quo. The status quo must go. . . We are rocking the boat right now," he said.

So far, CAIN is relying only on diplomatic resources to get the voices of the 'grassroots' people heard, but Twoyoungmen said the coalition has been contacted by groups that have offered to provide some muscle to the group.

Violence, Twoyoungmen said, "is our very last resort."

He said the group just wants to get some answers and let band members get their voices heard.

Reform MP Myron Thompson is backing the CAIN group, but not the use of violence to sort things out.

"If their voices are going to be heard, they need to come together collectively," he said. "There's been certain militant-type people who have contacted them to see if they want to use their services - I've told [CAIN] to stay away from them."

A group calling themselves the Warriors has also come forward at the Samson First Nation in Hobbema.

Thompson said, despite the name, that group is not looking to violence to solve the problems in teir community. They just want to be heard and are trying to create awareness to what they think are problems on their own reserve, he said.

"The warriors are certainly not of a militant attitude," he said.

Some band members at Samson are asking Indian Affairs for their own forensic audit into allegations of band financial mismanagement.

Mel Buffalo, a consultant with the Samson Cree First Nation, said the band administration, with Chief Florence Buffalo is planning to meet with all band members to discuss any perceived problems.

Buffalo said the chief and council is committed to working out any problems with members.

Chief Buffalo returned to her office in mid-October after a three week leave of absence to care for her sick husband.

Indian Affairs' response to the start-up groups is one of non-action.

"It's nothing out of the ordinary," said federal Indian Affairs spokesperson Lynn Boyer. "Having individuals or groups of individuals who raise concerns with respect to their local governments are normal to any community whether Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal."

The department realizes that these groups are out there, she said, but only recognize the elected representatives of a Native community.

"The department deals with the duly elected chiefs and councils for the most part," she said.

Allegations of corruption backed with proof are directed to the RCMP. Indian Affairs will assist any member with a complaint,"without interfering," she said.

Despite the growing numbers of groups now trying to get the department's attention about concerns they have on reserves, Boyer said the government is encouraging them to work things out amongst themselves.

"The days when DIAND ran and controlled these communities are long gone," she said.